The effects of visuals when teaching new English vocabulary to kindergarten English Language Learners.

Abstract

This study examines the effects of visuals with kindergarten ELL (English Language Learner) students when learning new English vocabulary words. Those who took part in this study were 10 ELL students in 2 different schools who all speak Spanish as a first language. The study took place inside the ESL classrooms the 2 schools, utilizing a pre-test and post-test, during two different sessions, with two different sets of five vocabulary words. In one school, students learned the vocabulary words with visuals while the other school did not receive the visuals. From this study, it can be seen that visuals do enhance the learning of ELL kindergarten students when learning new English vocabulary. Students who did receive the intervention of the visuals showed more increases in pre-test and post-test scores than those who did not receive the intervention of visuals.